


Always With You

by DjDangerLove



Series: Tarlos March Madness [13]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Loving Andrea Reyes, M/M, Sick Fic, Sort Of, Worried Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star), Worried TK Strand, it's more recovering from surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 07:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30018537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DjDangerLove/pseuds/DjDangerLove
Summary: “Babe?” Carlos calls as he steps into the room and circles to TK’s side of the bed. When he’s hovering over him, he can see pain etched into lines around his boyfriend’s eyes as he squeezes them shut. “Hey, you okay?”TK’s swallow is audible, his groan as he tries to uncurl from his fetal position even more so. He blinks glassy eyes up at Carlos, face pale and jaw clenched. “My stomach hurts.”Or: TK has to get his appendix removed
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Tarlos March Madness [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189232
Comments: 18
Kudos: 354





	Always With You

**Author's Note:**

> Tarlos March Madness #13 of 31

The leaves are falling heavy by the first weekend of October. There’s a cool breeze in the air that turns chilly at night and the overabundant use of pumpkin is rampant. The fall season is in full swing in Austin and Carlos could not feel more content. Even if he is up early on his first Saturday off in over a month just rake the sea of leaves covering the backyard into one big pile of orange and brown hues peppered with spots of red.

Despite how he may bicker with TK about whose turn it is to do the yard work, Carlos actually enjoys the methodical task of mowing the lawn and raking leaves. He worked outside on his family’s ranch quite a bit up until he joined the police academy, so it feels like an ingrained part of him to keep the yard in tip top shape. It’s just that he hadn’t really wanted to spend his only shared day off with TK doing it so he had gotten up early, way before TK would rouse for the day, so that none of their time was wasted. 

Late dawn is tampered by a thick morning fog, keeping it dark enough outside that Carlos is distracted by the bathroom light clicking on up stairs. It’s too early for TK to be up for the day, having gotten off his shift at midnight, so thinking he must just have gotten up to use the restroom Carlos goes back to his task at hand, nearly finished except for the few clusters of leaves strewn by the light breeze that comes and goes. 

He gets the leaves into two garbage bags and tied up, putting them next to the gate to be dealt with later and storing the rake back in its place. He wipes his brow with the back of his hand and notices the bathroom light still on when he drops his arm. Curious, Carlos heads inside and makes quiet work of the stairs in case TK had went back to sleep even though he detests sleeping with any sort of light on. 

Peeking around doorframe to the bedroom, he can make out TK’s huddled form on the bed in the light spilling out into the room from the en suite. He’s curled in on himself, the lack of cover giving him a direct view, but he’s not still enough to be asleep.

“Babe?” Carlos calls as he steps into the room and circles to TK’s side of the bed. When he’s hovering over him, he can see pain etched into lines around his boyfriend’s eyes as he squeezes them shut. “Hey, you okay?”

TK’s swallow is audible, his groan as he tries to uncurl from his fetal position even more so. He blinks glassy eyes up at Carlos, face pale and jaw clenched. “My stomach hurts.”

Carlos eases himself to sit on the edge of the bed and reaches out to lay the back of his fingers across TK’s forehead and then his cheek. There’s a heat there, but he’s not sure if it’s from being sleep warm or the beginning of a fever. “Still? I thought you said you were feeling better when we went to bed last night?”

“I was,” TK relaxes under his touch, sighing at the feeling of Carlos’ fingers running slowly through his tousled hair. “But I woke up this morning to worse pain than yesterday and it’s..it’s lower.”

“Lower? What do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s my appendix,” TK says as he runs a hand over his own stomach and groans. “Yesterday it was higher and not that bad, so I didn’t think too much of it but now its lower on my right side and my stomach feels bloated.”

“You feel a bit warm and you didn’t eat much yesterday,” Carlos adds, feeling a bit tense with worry but trying to keep the slow drag of his hand through TK’s hair gentle and calm. “You don’t think it’s ruptured yet do you?”  
“I’m…not sure,” TK chokes out against a fresh wave of pain that he tries to curl away from but then stretches against the pain that causes. 

“Easy. Hey, easy. Try to relax, sweetheart,” Carlos shushes even as TK tries to glare at him. “I know, easier said than done, but it’ll help the less you wiggle around.”

TK melts into the mattress, deflating with an apologetic sigh even as his knuckles pop when he squeezes the pillow at his head. 

“How do we need to do this? Ambulance or car?”

“Car. God, the car,” TK whimpers, due to another bout of pain or the thought of the trip to the hospital altogether, Carlos isn’t sure. 

“Alright. Let me change my shirt and then I’ll grab your shoes,” Carlos says even as he stands from the bed and makes quick work of changing out his yard work shirt for a clean, long sleeved henley. He picks TK’s sneakers up from the floor and goes back over to the bed, thankful that TK is still dressed in sweatpants and an AFD t-shirt so they don’t have to work through getting him dressed. 

TK struggles to sit up, shaking with the effort and lungs expanding with painful gasps of air. Carlos eases an arm around his shoulder and helps steady him to a sitting position, only letting him go when TK assures him that he’s okay. He goes about slipping TK’s socked feet into his sneakers and then asks, “Are you able to stand up? What about the stairs?”

If TK barely managed sitting up, he’s not sure how the man will make much more of an effort.  
The questions seem to fluster him, coming to the same realization as Carlos and feeling a multitude of emotions at once. Carlos stands and drops a kiss to TK’s hair. 

“It’s going to be okay, I promise. I’m right here,” Carlos assures as he rounds the bed to pocket his wallet, keys and phone in his joggers. He circles back around the bed and squats down, catching TK’s eyes with his own while reaching out to cup one hand to the side of his face. “I’m going to take care of you, baby. No need to worry. Now, do you want to attempt to stand or do you want me to carry you?”

“You’re going to carry me down the stairs?” 

The disbelief in his tone has Carlos feigning offense. “I don’t workout just to send you sweaty selfies.”

Carlos feels little bit of relief at the sight of a smile tugging at TK’s lips, even more when he quips, “Yes, but those are the biggest payout.”

Carlos snorts. “Don’t I know it, but for now it might be getting you to the car with as little pain as possible, huh?”

“Yeah,” TK breathes out, quiet and resigned to his fate as Carlos bends down to get his arm under the bend of TK’s knees. He moves slow and gentle, stopping whenever TK gives a hiss of pain but eventually ends up standing with TK in his arms in a bridal carry. It’s a bit awkward given that TK isn’t that much smaller than him, but if this is what he has to do to save TK some of the agony then so be it. 

“Ready?” Carlos asks, keeping his voice light and smile on his face. TK tries to return it even though Carlos can feel his stuttered breathing. TK nods once and they’re off, Carlos making sure to keep his steps as steady as possible. 

He has to stop once about half way down the stairs, both because he feels like he may fall forward any given second and two because TK’s complexion turns greener with each passing second. 

“Baby, I love you, but if you throw up right here…”

“Then you better hurry,” TK moans and Carlos tries to adjust his arms a bit and apologizes for the jolt of pain that TK gives voice to. 

“You want me to keep going to the car or do you need to stop?” Carlos asks when they finally make it to the first floor unscathed. TK shakes his head murmuring, “Car,” into Carlos’ shoulder. 

Carlos follows the direction, has TK turn the knob for the front door to open it and then sets him on his feet at the passenger side of the car. He opens the door and hovers while TK eases himself into the seat, only going back to the lock the door when TK assures him he’s fine. 

Carlos hops in the car and fires the engine, looking over at TK and grabbing his hand. He intertwines their fingers not minding how hard TK squeezes and backs out of the driveway. 

———————

They pull into the driveway two days later with hands intertwined over the console, but given the lack of pressure to the back of his hand Carlos is fairly certain his boyfriend is asleep. He kills the engine and sits in the silence of the car for a moment, just breathing slow and deep and letting the exhaustion pulling at every inch of his body flourish. It wouldn’t take much for him to fall asleep right here in the car next to TK. Hospital recliners are only comfortable when your mind is worried about something other than the state of your own back, but now that he can feel the painful twinge in his spine he’s desperate to lay down in his own bed. 

Rolling his head along the headrest, he looks over to TK sleeping against the slight recline of his seat. A fresh wave of relief washes over Carlos as he runs his thumb across the warm skin of his boyfriend’s hand and then he feels guilty for prolonging the moment TK can lay down in soft sheets and sleep without nurses prodding him every few hours. He kisses the back of his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“Hey, TK. We’re home.”

TK blinks awake, shakes his fingers’ from Carlos’ to rub at his face with both hands, and then looks over with weariness setting heavy under his eyes. He smiles all the same, the warmth of it rivaling the autumn sun bleeding through the car windows. “Finally.”

“Yeah,” Carlos agrees, grinning right back before reaching for the at home care instructions bag from the backseat and exiting the car. He circles the front and opens TK’s door, hovering the entire time the other man gingerly swings his legs out of the vehicle and squatting down when TK pauses against the seat to take a few deep breaths.

“Take your time, Babe,” he encourages with a hand slowly moving up and down TK’s thigh in a comforting gesture. TK nods once, pushing a frustrated puff of air through his nose and then reaches for Carlos to help him stand. “Okay?” Carlos asks at the change in height and when TK nods again, he starts moving them towards the front door. He makes quick work of the entry, asks the question he already knows the answer to and pauses at the bottom of the stairs after TK confirms he just wants to lay down in their bed. 

“Want me to carry you?”

TK scrunches his face, and even though his eyes are closed in exhaustion Carlos knows he’s glaring at him. “So you can kill us both after we just left the hospital? No thanks. I know your back hurts from the chair. I told you to come home and sleep.”

Carlos rolls his eyes. “And I told you the same thing you would have told me if roles had been reversed. No.”

“It was just my appendix.”

“That started to rupture as soon as the got you in surgery. You’re lucky.”

“Oh, yes the itching stitches in my stomach make me feel _so_ lucky,” TK gripes, reaching out for the banister leading up the stairs and moving up onto the first step with a sharp inhale. 

Carlos knows the pain TK can’t take medicine for is making him grouchy so he doesn’t let the tone bother him, but he keeps his hands hovering but not touching as they climb the staircase one slow step at a time. They make it about half way up before TK pauses longer than usual, body leaning heavily on the rail as he says, “I’m sorry,” on the back of a deep sigh. 

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for. I know you’re hurting,” Carlos kisses the assurance into TK’s hair and shifts the man to take some of his weight. “Let me help you the rest of the way, okay?”

By the time Carlos eases TK down onto their mattress, a sheen of sweat glistens off his forehead and his fingers shake as he grips the sheets between white knuckles. Carlos runs a calming hand through TK’s hair as the man breathes through an ache that can’t be tamed with anything other than time and drops a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

TK doesn’t give any indication he’s heard him, or cares whether or not he’s telling the truth, but when Carlos sits down on the edge of the bed, pressing a cold, damp cloth across his face and through his hair, TK’s eyes open with tears. 

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry,” Carlos murmurs, unable to comprehend how TK is able to suffer through all of this without pain medication. 

“It’s okay,” TK nearly whimpers, grasping onto Carlos’ forearm as he takes the cloth away. “Thank you for always taking care of me.”

Carlos leans forward to kiss him on the head again with a gentle, “I always will,” and a smile that TK somehow manages to return. 

“Will you lay down with me? You’re exhausted.”

Carlos makes a show of circling the bed with an exhausted slump to his shoulders and a groan as he gently folds himself under the covers so as not to move the mattress too much. “You run me ragged, Tyler Kennedy,” he teases, already half asleep and unaware of the frown he puts on his boyfriend’s face. 

————————

The next morning he wakes more rested than he has any right to be. He figured he would be up like clockwork with TK shifting every so often against the pain around the incision site stitched in his stomach. A glance at the clock tells him he slept like the dead and never woke up once. A hand to the empty side of the bed comes back cold meaning TK has long since gotten up and the uneasiness that settles in his belly at that has him nearly leaping from the bed. 

“TK?”

“In here,” comes from the bathroom and Carlos blinks against the light as he opens the door to find TK sitting on the closed toilet lid, shirt off and sans gauze pad over his stitches. TK glances up from where he’s pushing a wash cloth around the incision site, careful not to touch it. “Good morning,” he smiles, but the dark circles under his eyes speak otherwise. 

“Morning,” Carlos replies slowly, trying to choose his next words carefully knowing that TK won’t take well to being treated like he’s helpless and incapable of doing things on his own. “Whatcha up to?” 

He tries to play it casual, going so far as to lean against the doorframe, but the slight twitch of TK’s eye means he didn’t pull it off. “I’m trying to wash off the grime from the hospital and change the dressing.”

Carlos takes a slow, calculated breath. “You’re not supposed to take a shower until tomorrow. Doctor’s orders.”

The air in the bathroom turns stale, TK tensing under the words. His own come out between gritted teeth, “Which is why I’m not in the shower.”

“Hey, I’m not trying to start anything,” Carlos relents, pushing off the doorframe and crouching down in front of TK. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I wish you knew you don’t always have to.”

“Same could be said for you,” TK seems to let go of some of the animosity holding his body rigid, but he still looks nervous for a reason Carlos can’t fathom. 

“TK, is something wrong? You need to tell me if-“

TK wraps his fingers around Carlos’ wrist, squeezing gently. “Promise me you won’t be mad?”

“TK-“

Carlos is cut off by the doorbell ringing. He shakes it off, under the impression that the person likely selling something will go away when they don’t answer. 

“Baby, just tell me what’s going on? Do we need to get you back to the hosp-“

The doorbell rings again and TK squeezes Carlos’ arm again. “She’s not going to go away.”

“She?…TK,” Carlos stutters in confusion, then a horrible thought crosses his mind. “What did you do?”

“Carlos-“

“Tyler Kennedy, so help me God, if that’s my mother at the door-“

“You’re exhausted-“

“Yes! I am, which means I do not have the energy to deal with her,” Carlos replies incredulously. “TK, why did you call her?”

The doorbell rings in three quick successions and TK has the nerve to laugh. “Just go let her in before she has the entire Texas Ranger brigade and the 126 down here.”

“I hate you so much right now,” Carlos groans, but leans forward and kisses TK anyway. “I love you beyond belief, but I hate you.”

“Okay,” TK says, and for the second time Carlos’ misses the frown he puts on TK’s face as he rushes downstairs. 

————————————

His mother comes through the door in a swirl of energy he doesn’t have the vigor to track. She’s carrying a multitude of grocery bags and talking in rapid fire Spanish that bounces around the first floor of his house. 

“Mamà! Please, lower your voice,” he begs of her as he helps her set the bags down on the kitchen island and kisses her cheek. 

“Oh, is TK back asleep? I just talked to him not long ago. Sorry, mijo,” she pats him on the back and then starts sifting through the bags like this is not an unusual occurrence. 

“Mamà? What are you doing here?”

“She’s here to take care of _us_ , Carlos,” comes from the stairs and Carlos feels every last ounce of patience he has shrivel up and die at the sight of TK wobbly standing on the bottom step, knuckles white as he grips the banister. “Hi, Mrs. Reyes.”

“TK, you’re not supposed to be on the stairs by yourself,” Carlos chastises, rushing over and supporting him to the couch. His mother admonishes his boyfriend for calling her anything but Andrea as he settles TK into the cushions and then comes over to stuff the blanket over TK like she’s been taking care of him his entire life. Carlos raises an eyebrow at her, then at TK who seems much more relaxed under her care than he has any right to. 

Ever since that first dinner he had his parents over for, things had been getting better. They’ve shared a few more meals between the four of them, even went to the Farmer’s Market one Sunday and had dinner at Owen’s once, but Carlos didn’t think they were at this level of normal. He feels his mother’s hand up under his chin, closing his mouth shut from where surprise had propped it open.

“You’ll catch flies like that, Carlitos,” his mother teases, sharing a grin with TK before heading back to the kitchen. Carlos turns back to TK, eyes narrowing and jaw set. 

“Carlos, I’m sorry, but-“

“No, just…it’s fine,” he brushes off, a bit too hastily, but too overwhelmed to correct himself. “Try to get some rest.”

———————

“Carlos Reyes, you will not be mad at that boy for calling me,” Andrea chides while pouring a bag of rice into a pot on the stove. Carlos looks to the couch finding TK already asleep in the bundle of covers and sighs. 

“Why did he call you?”

His mother scoffs, moving about his kitchen like she’s been there a million times before. “Because he was worried about you. Said you haven’t had proper sleep in days and would try to do everything you could for him which meant running yourself into the ground.”

A heavy feeling settles in his belly, but it’s anything but uncomfortable. He doesn’t even realize the stupid grin spreading across his face as he stares at what little he can see of his boyfriend on the couch until Andrea pats his stomach with a chuckle. “Yes, that boy loves you very much. Now, go over there and rest. You need it just as much as he does. I’ll wake you when the food is ready.”

At the mention of food, he glances down at the ingredients and knows that while Andrea said she was making plain rice for TK as he was still dealing with a bit of nausea, she’s also brought everything to make his favorite meal. He moves to hug her, kissing the top of her head the way he has since he grew taller than her when he was in high school. “I love you, Mamà. Thank you for being here and taking care of us.”

“Always, mijo.” She says, patting his cheek. “Always.”

He shuffles over to the couch, debates on sitting in one of the chairs so as not to move TK, but finds that he wants nothing more than to hold him close. He slides his hands gently under his boyfriend’s shoulders as he sits down so that TK’s head is pillowed in his lap. TK groans at being moved, but leans into the warmth of Carlos’ stomach before looking up at him with sleepy eyes. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry-“

“If you’re about to apologize,” Carlos says, running a hand through TK’s hair, “for taking care of me, please don’t. That will make me feel even more guilty than I already do.”

TK frowns at him and untucks a hand from the covers to run it up and down Carlos’ side. “Guilty? For what?”

“For being upset earlier that you called my mom,” Carlos sighs. 

“I was afraid you’d be mad, but I couldn’t just let you keep running on empty. You have to go back to work soon and-“

“Hey, no,” Carlos cuts him off, hearing the panic in TK’s voice and soothing it away with a kiss to his temple. “You’re right. I do need proper sleep, especially before going back to work. Thank you for taking care of me.”

“I just love you, you know,” TK says, already fading back to sleep while mumbling, “ ‘m always gonna take care of you."

Carlos leans his head back on the couch, lets the warmth from TK, the sun spilling through the windows and the heat of the kitchen settle over him and push him into sleep. The sounds of TK’s breath against his stomach and his mother’s humming keeps him from giving in entirely, all of it making him dream while he’s awake, picturing days where they’re both well enough to be in the kitchen as his mother cooks her infamous Mole de Olla. He imagines TK sitting on the counter regardless of the way Andrea smacks his knees with the end of her wooden spoon in reprimand, knowing she will instantly cave at the smile that spilts his face. Her relenting and letting them eat some of the cut zucchini from their own garden out back before she puts all of it in the soup. Then he thinks of hugging TK tightly, swaying him playfully as he sits on the counter until TK pushes him back far enough to cup his face in his hands with the intention of kissing him. 

It’s the imaginary feel of a wedding band against his cheek as it circles TK’s finger that has him opening his eyes again. He looks down at TK, relaxed in sleep and bends to kiss his temple again.

“I’m looking forward to always with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos are appreciated. Comments are food.  
> Find me on tumblr @ DjDangerLove


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